Nevada Man Sentenced for Boise Bank Robbery

BOISE—Melvin Glen Lantis, 65, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was sentenced in United States District Court today for robbing a Boise bank, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill sentenced Lantis to 63 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay $23,033 in restitution. He pleaded guilty on October 19, 2011, to one count of bank robbery.

According to the plea agreement, Lantis admitted that on April 22, 2011, he drove co-defendant Bryan Mark Johnson to the Key Bank located at 4920 Overland Road in Boise, and waited in the vehicle while Johnson robbed the bank of $13,082. According to the plea agreement, as Johnson exited the bank, a citizen followed him to his vehicle. Johnson admitted pointing a 9 millimeter semi-automatic pistol at the citizen, after which he entered the get-away vehicle driven by Lantis. The men were apprehended by Boise Police officers moments later. Lantis also admitted to casing the bank the day before the robbery.

Johnson is scheduled to be sentenced on March 27, 2012, at the federal courthouse in Boise. Because he was previously convicted of bank robbery in Nevada in 2002, Johnson is prohibited from possessing firearms. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years to life in prison.

The case was investigated by the Boise Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.